Berlin Old Town Self-Guided Audio Walk: Nikolaiviertel, Red Town Hall and TV Tower
1 hour and 15 minutes
About this experience
Berlin grew from two small medieval towns on the Spree. This walk covers the old Berlin side, from the last stretch of its town wall to Alexanderplatz, the center East Germany built for its capital. Four churches stand along the way, and the war reached all four. One kept its wounds on view, one was kept as a ruin, one was rebuilt as a museum inside an old town largely made of concrete panels in the 1980s, and one was simply repaired and is still a church. Pass a Rococo palace rebuilt from its stored stones, the Red Town Hall with its terracotta chronicle and the best view of the whole TV Tower, then stand under the tower's steel ball, at the World Time Clock and below the 125-meter mosaic of the Haus des Lehrers. Ten stops, about 2.2 km and 75 minutes, level, at your own pace, in English. Museum and TV Tower tickets are not included.
- Experience type
- Day tour or activity
- Duration
- 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Audio guide
- English
- Guide
- English
- Categories
- Walking tour · Cultural and theme tours · City tours
What's included
Self-guided audio tour in English: 10 stops, 2.2 km, 75 minutes Stops at Parochialkirche, Franciscan ruin, Nikolaikirche GPS map and walking directions in your phone browser, no app needed Lifetime access: start any day, at any hour, and replay it
What's not included
A live guide: you set the pace and the pauses A fixed start time: begin whenever you arrive Museum and monument tickets, all optional extras Tip or gratuity Food and drinks Entry or admission fee
Please note
To start the tour, enter the ticket code from your confirmation on the Roamer redemption page linked there. Do this before you set off, while you still have signal. The tour then opens in your phone browser, with no app to download. Bring a charged phone and earphones. Mobile data helps; if you have none, open the tour on wifi before you set off. Best time: A weekday from about 10am, when the Parochialkirche (Monday to Friday, 9am to 2pm), the Red Town Hall (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm) and the Marienkirche (daily, 10am to 6pm) are open; the Nikolaiviertel museums open at 10am (the Nikolaikirche at noon on Thursdays; the Ephraim-Palais is closed on Mondays). A sunny afternoon gives the best chance of the cross of light on the TV Tower's ball. In mid-October the trees are thinning, so the church walls show well. Alexanderplatz is crowded at weekends and in the evening rush. Checked 9 October 2026. Getting to the start: U-Bahn U2 to Klosterstrasse, the stop after Alexanderplatz; the town wall on Waisenstrasse is a short walk from the station. From Alexanderplatz (S3, S5, S7 and S9; U2, U5 and U8) take the U2 one stop or walk. Checked 9 October 2026 on bvg.de. The walk ends at the Haus des Lehrers, beside Alexanderplatz station (S-Bahn and U2, U5, U8). The U5 also stops at Rotes Rathaus and runs to the main station, Hauptbahnhof. Checked 9 October 2026. If you have more time, walk on along Karl-Marx-Allee: its second stretch, built from 1959 to 1965 in prefabricated slab blocks, holds the Kino International, opened in 1963 and reopened in 2026 after a renovation, and the former Café Moskau. Beyond Strausberger Platz begin the ornamented blocks of the first stretch, built in the 1950s, when the street was called Stalinallee. The U5 stops at Schillingstrasse and Strausberger Platz. Checked 9 October 2026. Nikolaiviertel museums: a 15-euro combined ticket covers the Nikolaikirche, the Ephraim-Palais and the Knoblauchhaus on two consecutive days. The Nikolaikirche is open daily (Thursday noon to 8pm from 2 October 2026 to 18 April 2027); the Ephraim-Palais is closed on Mondays. Checked 9 October 2026 at stadtmuseum.de. The Parochialkirche is usually open Monday to Friday, 9am to 2pm, except on event days; its carillon plays set tunes at 9am, noon, 3pm and 6pm from 9 September to the first Sunday of Advent. Checked 9 October 2026 with the parish. The Marienkirche is free and open daily 10am to 6pm; visits are limited during services and concerts. A prayer for peace is held on Fridays at noon and the Sunday service is at 10.30am. The Dance of Death is in the tower hall. Checked 9 October 2026 with the parish. The Red Town Hall is open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, free, except on public holidays; short closures for official business are possible, so call 030 9026 2032 to check on the day. Checked 9 October 2026 on berlin.de. The Franciscan church ruin is open inside, free, from May to September, 10am to 6pm. From October 2026 to April 2027 its art installation is visible only from outside. Checked 9 October 2026 at klosterruine.berlin. Building works around the Red Town Hall: part of the lawns between Spandauer Strasse and the Neptune Fountain has been fenced since 7 September 2026 for pipe laying, with pedestrians still able to cross; works continue into 2027. The Neptune Fountain is under scaffolding for restoration, planned to finish at the end of 2026. The Marx-Engels-Forum is fenced and the Spree bank path beside it closed. A playground is being built on Rathausstrasse opposite the Nikolaiviertel until the second half of 2027. If a path on the route is fenced, follow the signed pedestrian way. Checked 9 October 2026 with Grün Berlin and the Mitte district office. The stretch from the Franciscan ruin to the Nikolaiviertel runs beside Grunerstrasse and the Mühlendamm, a busy main road, past the Molkenmarkt archaeological dig and its hoardings. Cross the quiet end of Klosterstrasse with care, and the main road only at the lights. Checked 9 October 2026. Waisenstrasse and Parochialstrasse have little or no separate pavement: keep to the edge and watch for cars. Cycle lanes run beside and across the promenades near the TV Tower, at Alexanderplatz and beside the Haus des Lehrers: look both ways and keep off the red cycle tracks. Trams cross Alexanderplatz. Alexanderplatz and the TV Tower forecourt are crowded: watch your bags, and walk on past shell games and petition sellers. The station is a long-running building site, so expect hoardings and noise. The paving in the Nikolaiviertel lanes is uneven in places, and slippery when wet. Public transportation nearby
Itinerary
- 1Day 0
Town Wall on Waisenstrasse: Kept by the Houses
Waisenstraße, path along the medieval Town Wall by Littenstraße, 10179 Berlin, Berlin
The last stretch of Berlin's first town wall. Field stone of the 1200s, patched in brick, that survived because houses were built against it and used it as their back wall.
- 2Day 0
Parochialkirche: Wounds Left Showing
Parochialstraße at Klosterstraße, by the Parochialkirche, 10179 Berlin, Berlin
A baroque church that kept its war wounds. Burned out in May 1944, roofed again in 1950-51 and restored so the damage stays readable; its copper spire came back in 2016.
- 3Day 0
Franciscan Friary Church: The Ruin the Road Left
Klosterstraße, pavement by the Franciscan Friary Church ruin, 10179 Berlin, Berlin
A Franciscan church kept as a ruin. Bombed in 1945, its friary pulled down in 1968 for a wider road, the brick shell now stands in a green strip and shows art.
- 4Day 0
Nikolaikirche: An Old Town Made New
Eiergasse, Nikolaikirchplatz, at the east end of the Nikolaikirche, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A gutted church inside a rebuilt old town. The Nikolaikirche's walls and granite tower base are old; its interior and the panel-built quarter around it date from 1979 to 1987.
- 5Day 0
Ephraim-Palais: Three Thousand Stored Stones
Poststraße, facing the Ephraim-Palais, Nikolaiviertel, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A Rococo palace rebuilt from its stored stones. Pulled down in 1936 for a new bridge and lock, its stones were stored and it was rebuilt about 12 meters from its old site.
- 6Day 0
Rotes Rathaus: Red for the Brick
Spandauer Straße, lawn path facing the Rotes Rathaus (Red Town Hall), 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A town hall red for its brick. Berlin's seat of government, rebuilt by 1958, with a terracotta frieze of city history and the walk's best view of the whole TV Tower.
- 7Day 0
Marienkirche: The Church That Stayed a Church
Marx-Engels-Forum lawn, path east of the Neptune Fountain facing the Marienkirche, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
The church that stayed a church. Saint Mary's, lightly damaged in the war and repaired by 1950, stands alone on a lawn whose paths were laid out to fit its angle.
- 8Day 0
TV Tower: The Cross on the Steel Ball
Rathausstraße promenade, plaza path south of the TV Tower, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A steel ball that throws a cross. The TV Tower of 1965-69, more than 360 meters high, whose faceted sphere shows a cross of light in the sun.
- 9Day 0
World Time Clock: Twenty-Four Zones and a Trabant
Alexanderplatz, beside the World Time Clock, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A clock for twenty-four time zones. Erich John's World Time Clock of 1969 on Alexanderplatz, turned by a Trabant gearbox, near Walter Womacka's spiral fountain.
- 10Day 0
Haus des Lehrers: A Picture Where the Books Were
Alexanderstraße, pavement along the Haus des Lehrers, 10178 Berlin, Berlin
A mosaic band wrapped round a library. The Haus des Lehrers of 1961-64 carries Walter Womacka's 125-meter mosaic Our Life at the level of its book stacks.
Meeting point
Town Wall on Waisenstrasse, Berlin Waisenstraße, path along the medieval Town Wall by Littenstraße, 10179 Berlin, Berlin, Berlin, DE
Pick up
Pickup is not provided.
Cancellation policy · Berlin Old Town Self-Guided Audio Walk: Nikolaiviertel, Red Town Hall and TV Tower
Standard Viator policy
- Cancellation 0–24 hours before departure: 100% cancellation fee.
- Cancellation 24–24000 hours before departure: 0% cancellation fee.
Good to know
Operated by Roamer and sold by AGORA. Your voucher and booking reference arrive by email straight after payment.